Newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national vice-president Mukul Roy will lead a rally on Thursday in Barrackpore region’s Titagarh in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal in the remembrance of slain party leader Manish Shukla.
The program, believes to be in response to Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) peace rally in there earlier this week, has been named ‘Halla Bol rally’. It has been organised to demand a CBI probe fair investigation into Shukla’s murder.
According to a report carried by Bengali portal The Wall, tension has mounted up on the ground ahead of BJP’s rally. Many believe it would be the saffron party’s show of strength and that the name of the rally itself suggests that the rulling party will be attacked throughout the event.
BJP, though, has guaranteed that it would be a peaceful event, claiming that it will be attended by locals in the memory of Shukla. The party alleged that TMC’s rally was filled with outsiders from nearby regions of Kamarhati, Sodepur Ghola and Dakhineshwar.
However, the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate is not keeping any stone unturned in their attempt to maintain peace in the region. To make sure that the law and order situation is not disturbed, the police department will depoy a huge force in Titagarh.
Shukla, a lawyer and a BJP leader in Barrackpore region, was shot dead earlier this month. While alleging that the killing was sponsored by local TMC leaders, the BJP brigade launched state-wide protests to demand CBI’s intervention in probing Shukla’s death.
In his FIR, Shukla’s father Chandramani Shukla had named Barrackpore Municipality’s ex-chairman Uttam Das and Titagarh Municipality’s Prasanto Chaudhury. Both belong to the ruling TMC party.
Even though the investigators – CID and Barrackpore Police – have not taken any action against either Das or Chaudhary, a total of four arrsests have been made so far in connection to the murder.
Last week on Sunday, Mukul Roy bad led a BJP contingent to the Raj Bhavan where they met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to officially demand a CBI probe in the murder case of Shukla.
“Those who are named in the FIR by Manish Shukla’s father have not yet been called for interrogation. CID has made a mockery in the name of investigation. We know that the Governor doesn’t have the authority to call for CBI in a case, but we as responsible citizens just wanted to communicate to him the law and order situation of the state,” Roy had said after meeting Dhankhar.
Further, in an open letter to the Governor, the BJP alleged, “The pattern of the murder makes it clear that it was run by the ruling party with the help of police. Instead of unearthing the truth, the CBI seems to be busy in shielding the murderer. It is also trying to frame a false case to shift the blame on BJP leaders. We are demanding a CBI probe.”